Targets are well known in the sport of archery for the purpose of providing something to shoot at which will stop the arrows and will prevent loss or damage to such arrows. One of the most common and well known of such target devices is a matt which is wound from grass or hay and upon which a paper target is placed. The paper target provides reference points for the archer to shoot at, and the matt behind it actually stops the arrow before the fletching passes therethrough.
Other types of targets and arrow stopping devices are also in common usage. For example, there are styrofoam or other types of solid foam targets, some of which are molded into the shapes of animals or have an animal imprinted on the front thereof. Many of these are three dimensional, but a common target of this type is also a flat silhouette in the shape of a particular animal, sometimes having the features of such animal painted on the front thereof.
These foam silhouette targets are sometimes anchored to the ground and at other times they merely set on the ground on a platform attached to the bottom thereof. On these silhouette targets which are merely held upright by gravity, once they are hit by an arrow, they are pushed rearwardly by the force of the arrow and often come to rest in something other than an upright position, thereby requiring that the target be set upright and placed at the distance desired in order for a second shot to be made at such target. If the silhouette target is solidly or rigidly attached to the ground, for example by using a ground stake, then the arrows will tend to pass through such silhouette target and eventually a hole will be blown out of the area where most of the arrows are striking the silhouette target.
Once there is a hole in a silhouette target, it defeats the purpose of stopping the arrow and preventing damage to the arrows and to the target itself. When arrows pass through such a target, it is difficult to determine exactly where the arrow passed through, and therefore the arrow is difficult to score. Also, the arrow can be lost in the grass or the like behind the target. When the arrow passes through the target, the fletching often is torn off or damaged as it hits portions of the target.
Consequently there is a need for a silhouette target apparatus which will absorb the shock of the arrow and stop the arrows to allow the arrows to be properly scored, to prevent damage to the target itself, and to prevent damage to or loss of the arrows. Also, there is a need for a silhouette target which has the aforementioned shock absorbing abilities and which is also automatically reset to the same position each time after each arrow impacts the target.